Introduction: Scientists observed mysterious X-rays on Uranus. Scientists think this may be because astronomy is able to scatter X-rays emitted by the sun, which is more than a billion miles away. Or it could be that the tiny rings of dust around Uranus are producing their own ra

Introduction: Scientists observed mysterious X-rays on Uranus. Scientists think this may be because astronomy is able to scatter X-rays emitted by the sun, which is more than a billion miles away. Or it could be that the tiny rings of dust around Uranus are producing their own radiation through some unknown process.

Uranus's blue body emits X-ray flares (pink). (Picture provided by: NASA/University College London, UK/Wu. Duan, etc.)

Astronomers have detected a mysterious X-ray flare emitted by Uranus for the first time.

What's going on? NASA scientists believe that Uranus is so massive that it only scatters X-rays emitted by the sun billions of miles away; perhaps the thin rings of dust surrounding Uranus emit their own radiation through some as-yet-ununderstood process. What is certain, however, is that we need to do in-depth research on this phenomenon on Uranus.

Uranus is cold and windy, and is almost entirely made of ice and air. Even so, because its diameter is about four times that of Earth, it is difficult to study Uranus in depth at such a large size. Only NASA's Voyager 2 has made dangerous trips to it, which limits scientists' observation of it to mainly relying on telescopes located closer to the earth to observe and study this ice giant.

A new study published in the journal JCR Space Physics on March 31 this year reports on astronomers' study of some archival observations of Uranus from NASA's Chandra X-ray Laboratory, an orbiting planet. Telescopes on the planet can search the universe to discover the source of X-ray radiation.

According to NASA reports, when matter is heated to millions of degrees, it emits X-rays, just like a star exploding, or like the behavior of matter orbiting a black hole at the speed of light. Recently, other planets in the solar system except Uranus and Pluto have been found to emit X-rays; in most cases, the X-rays emitted by the sun hit the atoms in the planet's atmosphere, and the radiation appears accordingly, and the radiation is also scattered back into space.

In the study, researchers analyzed data from Chandra in 2002 and 2017 and saw clear evidence of X-ray emissions in both years; several of these emissions were related to X-rays emitted by the Sun have a consistent brightness that is scattered back into space. However, during observations in 2017, researchers also detected a flare that may have been an X-ray, where the brightness released by Uranus was four times higher than the brightness in one day.

Researchers believe, "This may imply that in addition to the X-rays emitted by the sun, Uranus also emits additional X-rays."

What kind of mystery is hidden behind the fact that Uranus can also emit X-rays? One possible reason lies in those orbits of Uranus. Researchers believe that the environment around Uranus is filled with charged particles, such as protons and electrons, which may collide with those in Uranus's rings, producing X-rays. The same group of researchers also wrote: Similar phenomena have been observed in the rings of Saturn.

These X-rays may also be the result of certain aurora processes, in which charged particles from the Sun strike Uranus's magnetic field lines, causing a distinct glow. However, further research is needed to flesh out this hypothesis. So far, the X-rays emitted many times on Uranus are still so mysterious!

Related knowledge

Uranus is the seventh planet from the inside out. Its volume ranks third in the solar system (larger than Neptune), and its mass ranks fourth (lighter than Neptune).Its English name Uranus comes from the god of the sky in ancient Greek mythology Ouranos (Οὐρανός), who is the father of Kronos and the grandfather of Zeus. Compared with the five planets known to people in ancient times ( Mercury , Venus , Mars , Jupiter , Saturn ), the brightness of Uranus is also visible to the naked eye, but due to its relatively small for dimness and slowness orbiting speed and was not recognized as a planet by ancient observers. [12] It was not until March 13, 1781, Sir William Herschel that he announced the discovery of Uranus, thereby expanding the known boundaries of the solar system for the first time in the modern history. It is also the first planet discovered using the telescope.

The interiors and atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune are different from the more massive gas giants - Jupiter and Saturn. Likewise, astronomers create different "ice giant planets" categories to place them. The main components of Uranus's atmosphere are hydrogen and helium. It also contains a relatively high proportion of "ice" formed by water, ammonia, methane, etc., as well as detectable hydrocarbons. . Uranus is the coldest planet in the solar system. The lowest temperature is only 49K (−224℃). The outer atmosphere has a complex cloud structure, with water in the lowest clouds and methane in the highest clouds. [8] In comparison, the interior of Uranus is made of ice and rock. [7]

Like the other giant planets, Uranus has a ring system , a magnetosphere and many satellites . Uranus's ring system is very unique among planets, because its axis of rotation is tilted to one side, almost lying on the orbital plane of the sun, so the south pole and north pole also lie on the equator of other planets. [13] Viewed from Earth, Uranus's rings resemble rings surrounding a target, and its satellites resemble the hands surrounding a clock (although in 2007 and 2008 the rings appeared to be nearly horizontal ). In 1986, imaging data from the space probe Voyager 2 showed that Uranus was actually an ordinary planet. Its visible-light images did not appear to have the clouds or clouds seen on other giant planets. storm . [13] However, in recent years, as Uranus approaches the equinoxes, observers on Earth have discovered signs of seasonal changes and increasing weather activity on Uranus. Wind speeds on Uranus can reach 250 meters per second. [14]

In Western culture, Uranus is the only planet in the solar system named after a Greek god. The other planets are named after Roman gods.

BY: Brandon Specktor

FY: Zhou Hongbo

If there is any infringement of relevant content, please contact the author after the work is published to delete it.

Please also obtain authorization for reprinting, and pay attention to maintaining integrity and indicating the source